The Legendary Actor - Chapter 68

The train arrived right in the middle of the conversation.

Renly and Andy walked out of the subway station. This time, Andy did not follow Renly any further, but stopped beside the road.

Renly took two more steps before he realized that Andy had fallen behind and turned around to see Andy’s full, friendly smile coming into view, “So, what do you say, I’ll plan your future movie journey for you.” After that long speech, after two meetings, Andy for the first time expressed his intentions clearly and precisely, “I’m a top agent, I have resources that ordinary people don’t have access to, I have professional knowledge and blueprint planning, give me three years and I guarantee that you can become a real top star. You know what I mean by “star”.”

Confident and unflappable, and even with a touch of humor, Andy displayed all the charisma of an agent.

There were some passersbys walking around them. They must have been on their way to work, unintentionally witnessing the two men, Renly and Andy, standing face to face at the subway station exit, one in a suit and one in street clothes, one looking like a Wall Street elitist and one looking like a graffiti art enthusiast or some hip-hopper, a lawyer and a delinquent who frequents juvenile detention centers. It was such an abnormal pairing that almost everyone couldn’t help but cast their eyes on it.

Andy’s swaggering posture, in particular, raised a lot of eyebrows – as if they were looking at a psychopath.

Renly couldn’t help but chuckle, “Can you believe it? They must be looking around for cameras right now.” There are countless instances of movies being shot on the streets in New York.

Andy spread his hands wide with a straight face, not distracted by Renly’s jokes, as he waited for Renly’s answer with single-minded devotion.

Renly knew that Andy’s words were very persuasive, which not only showed Andy’s business ability, negotiation and language organization skills that were excellent; but also showed Andy’s sincerity. It was obvious that he had done his homework in advance, especially studying Renly’s recent movements and preferences.

From these two points alone, Andy stood out from all the agents who had contacted him so far, and with the background of the Creative Artists Agency, Renly had no reason to reject Andy.

If it were anyone else, he would have just nodded his head, but Renly was no one else.

As a man of two lives, Renly knows very well that Hollywood is an incredibly realistic world where people who talk a lot but act very differently in reality.

For most people, an agent can be changed at any time, and they can sign an agent first, and then get rid of the agent after that, without any problem at all; but Renly doesn’t want to do that, because he is clear about his goals, and he has a clear concept about the selection of his works, so he wants to find a suitable partner and go all the way.

You could call him idealistic, you could call him cautious, and you could call him self-righteous. But, Renly has different opinion on that.

“I’m a very picky person,” Renly said, the smile on his lips rising a little, “or to be more precise, I’m a very troublesome person.”

“Oh? How so?” Andy’s interest was piqued, and he inquired about it with great interest.

Renly shrugged, “For example, I don’t like the idea of signing a package deal to sell myself to Marvel in one fell swoop,” which made Andy laugh out loud, “Or, for example, I’d want to take on some out-of-the-box roles that would probably break image baggage.” This is the biggest difference between Renly and Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and others.

In Hollywood, if you want to get to the top, you have to be a well-packaged “commodity,” with a carefully planned blueprint of dos and don’ts, what independent films you can and can’t do, and so goes for commercial films as well.

“Also, for example, occasionally I’ll want to enjoy my own free time.” Renly held up his skateboard, as is all was said and done.

Things were starting to get interesting, Andy thought.

Even an actor like David Schwimmer who had proven himself in “Friends” could not easily prove himself afterwards and launch a career.

In other words, Renly didn’t have a lot of leverage, but he was still being so selective. Andy came to the door twice before and after, which had already shown enough sincerity.

So, is Renly narcissistic and stupid, or is he confident? Is it self-righteousness or strength? Is it for fame and fortune or is it determination?

From a positive point of view, such people often know exactly what they want, have clear goals, and are fully focused; they are able to go further on the path of discovery and reach higher limits as long as they are given the opportunity to shine; from a negative point of view, such people are either too stupid and go into obscurity in the blink of an eye, or too stubborn and inflexible to be easily broken.

Which one is the Renly in front of us?

Andy was also weighing judgments, but his face didn’t show his thoughts at all, he just laughed as he said, “Sometimes, confidence is a good thing. But too much confidence, and it becomes arrogance. The line between the two is thiner than people normally think.”

A quip did not anger Renly, but made him laugh as well, and the smile on his lips revealed a playfulness, “I thought every actor requires narcissism, and even some arrogance, otherwise they would have gone crazy living under the spotlight every day, receiving praise, receiving criticism, receiving cheers, receiving curses, and receiving absolutely everyone’s attention. ”

Instead of retorting, Andy nodded in acknowledgement, “So most actors are always blind, especially those from the British Academy.” The insinuation behind the sarcasm could not have been sharper.

Renly politely tucked his jaw, accepting the comment with a straight face, while lifting his skateboard and pointing back, “I’m going to be late for this morning’s game. So, I’ll see you next time.” said Renly, throwing the board to the ground and stepping lightly on it, racing off into the sun, his slender back swallowed up by the haze in the blink of an eye.

Andy stayed where he was, carefully watching Renly leave.

Although he had not been able to reach his goal today, Andy had gained a lot, and his understanding of Renly was enhanced further. Frankly speaking, among contemporary actors, he could not find any suitable reference object. Although Edward Norton was somewhat similar, Edward’s personality was still less unrestrained and arrogant.

This kind of Renly is more like … Marlon Brando, bullying, arrogant, unbridled, and…. a genius. However, Marlon’s bravado is outward and radiant, so people can’t look directly at him; but Renly is restrained, and only by approaching slowly can we dig it out, and the arrogance that settled in the bones is blended into the temperament, giving birth to an inexpliacable charm.

Andy was not only not disappointed, but became more and more curious. Was Renly a genius or a mediocrity?

Many times, geniuses are always arrogant and domineering, because they can see things that ordinary people cannot see, they stand at heights that ordinary people cannot reach, and they insist on truths that can only be discovered decades in the future, so this destines them to be out of sync with the surrounding society.

For the mediocre, the illusion of arrogance becomes the beginning of their demise. The incompatibility of strength and confidence, the incompatibility of vision and heritage, the end is doomed from the beginning.

If they are geniuses, their strength will always crush their opponents, and even if they are rejected, being jealous of or hated and oppressed, their light will still not be extinguished; but if they are mediocre and arrogant to boot, they will die faster than the average person, especially in the star-studded circles of Hollywood!

As Renly said, every Hollywood inmate is like that, more or less narcissistic and even arrogant, and the exclusion and competition between them makes the fame and fortune rate race even fiercer and bloodier.

So, what about Renly? Whether it was condescension brought on by strength, or stupidity brought on by shortsightedness.

Andy was ready to leave, but after a moment’s hesitation, he followed, stopping outside the skatepark to watch Renly’s every move.

It was as if all the noise around him had disappeared, and the only sport left in the world was skateboarding, and the look of concentration gave the illusion that this was the World Series – but it was only just an odd contest of skateboarding.

To many people, they might scoff, “It’s just a little competition for one block, what’s all the attention?” They would have found Renly’s behavior ridiculous, even ludicrous, but that kind of dedication and focus was the key to success – something that most people don’t have, so it’s always the small percentage of people at that are at the top.

When Renly was ready to play, Andy instead turned away, knowing that Renly needed some time to think, and he himself needed some time to figure some things out. Putting his own position aside, Andy was really looking forward to Renly’s foray into Hollywood, to the heights that Renly would eventually challenge, whether he would fade into oblivion or shine on top of the world.

Whether he is a genius or a madman.